Ohio
The Cat Eaters of Ohio
Donald Trump shocked audiences at this week’s presidential debate with the claim that foreign migrants were eating household pets in Springfield, Ohio, a small town currently reeling under the strain of an unprecedented number of new arrivals, mostly from Haiti. “They’re eating the dogs,” Trump said. “They’re eating the cats.”
Reactions on both sides were spirited. Conservative social media accounts created memes that portrayed Trump, dressed in camouflage, and toting heavy weapons, as the savior of innocent pets. There was even a viral TikTok trend, which chopped up Trump’s speech and set it to dance music. “They’re eating the dogs, they’re eating cats,” the music thumped. “Eat the cat! Eat, eat the cat!”
The establishment media was not amused. During the debate, ABC’s David Muir dismissed Trump’s rhetoric with his version of a fact check, citing the Springfield city manager’s statement that “there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.” Other publications went further, blasting the former president for spreading a “racist smear,” a “century-old stereotype,” and a “cat-eating conspiracy theory.”
So, is there any truth to the charge? We have conducted an exclusive investigation that reveals that, yes, in fact, some migrants in Ohio appear to have been “eating the cats,” though not exactly in the manner that Trump described.
Our investigation begins in a run-down neighborhood of Dayton, Ohio, the closest major city to Springfield, about a half-hour’s drive away. We identified a social media post, dated August 25, 2023, with a short video depicting what appear to be two skinned cats on top of a blue barbeque. “Yoooo the Africans wildn on Parkwood,” reads the text, referring to Parkwood Drive. The video then pans down to two live cats walking across the grass in front of a run-down fence, with a voice on the video warning: “There go a cat right there. His ass better get missin’, man. Look like his homies on the grill!”
We spoke with the author of the video, who asked to remain anonymous but confirmed its time, location, and authenticity. He told us that he was picking up his son last summer, when he noticed the unusual situation. “It was some Africans that stay right next door to my kid’s mother,” he said. “This African dude next door had the damn cat on the grill.”
We then identified the home by matching it to the visuals in the video and cross-referencing them with the eyewitness. When we knocked on the door of the first unit, a family answered, telling us they were from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and that all of the surrounding units were occupied by other African migrants.
One of the residents told us that her former neighbors, also from Africa, had lived in the adjacent unit until last month. They had a blue grill and the father would find meat in the neighborhood. “Her dad was going to find meat,” she said. “Her dad was going, holding a knife.” The current residents also showed us a blue grill of the same make and model as in the video, which the former neighbors had abandoned after they moved out. There were at least ten cats wandering around the complex and another resident complained that they were breeding on the property.
According to the original witness, whose son was friendly with the neighbors, there was no doubt about what happened last summer. “They was barbecuing the damn cat!” he said. His son’s mother had previously witnessed the family butchering a mammal on the street, but the cats on the barbeque put him in such a state of shock, he felt the need to film it.
To be clear: this single incident does not confirm every particularity of Trump’s statement. The town is Dayton, not Springfield; cats alone were on the grill, not cats and dogs. But it does break the general narrative peddled by the establishment media and its “fact checkers,” who insisted that this has never happened, and that any suggestion otherwise is somehow an expression of racism.
It takes only a single exception, however, to falsify a hypothesis, and the logical next step, for any honest broker, is to ask if it is happening more often, and elsewhere. It is not implausible. Many developing nations, including the Congo and Haiti, have traditions of animal sacrifice or consumption of what Americans would consider household pets. And if this occurred in Dayton, where the migrant population is relatively small, it could be going on down the road in Springfield, where it is relatively much larger.
Independent journalists are already on the hunt and could reveal more. The Daily Wire has dispatched a reporter to Springfield to investigate. The Federalist has published a police report with allegations that a group of Haitians emerged from a city trail with dead geese in hand. Ohio’s attorney general, Dave Yost, has backed up this claim, arguing that citizens with such firsthand knowledge “would be competent witnesses in court.”
There is a legitimate debate to be had about migration and culture. All immigrants bring with them a particular tradition, which, in the case of countries such as Haiti and the Congo, can include practices that many Americans find disturbing. This cultural divide causes understandable consternation for non-migrants living in the rougher parts of places like Dayton and Springfield. They don’t enjoy the luxury of many in the establishment media, who can maintain a safe distance, condescending to those who raise the alarm while not even bothering to investigate anything themselves.
These revelations do not mean that assimilation is impossible, but the establishment will need to engage in a more honest debate, rather than simply smearing critics as racists and conspiracy theorists. One can make the case for migration, but one cannot, at the same time, deny that it comes with costs—which, in this case, seem to include a pair of flayed cats on a blue barbeque in Dayton, Ohio.
Sales for license plates featuring Dolly Parton’s face began Monday for $25. All proceeds will go to fund her Imagination Library
Watch: Dolly Parton visits Columbus to promote Imagination Library
Dolly Parton sang a little and told a few jokes at a Tuesday luncheon in Columbus
The Columbus Dispatch
Fans of country music legend Dolly Parton can show off their pride for the singer with a new Ohio license plate.
Ohio drivers can now purchase license plates featuring Parton for $25. The money from each plate will go to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio, a charity that gives children ages 5 and younger a free book each month. The state began selling the plates Monday.
Specifically, the funds will go to the purchaser’s local county program of the library, which it says will pay for mailing a child 12 books, enough for an entire year. Ohio is the second state to offer a license plate supporting the library after Parton’s home state of Tennessee.
First lady Fran DeWine has focused on expanding the Imagination Library in Ohio since her husband Gov. Mike DeWine took office in 2019. She was inspired when she saw her grandchildren receive books through the program and by 2020, it had expanded to all of Ohio’s 88 counties.
“I’m excited to see Ohio as the second state to offer a specialty Dolly Parton license plate to support her program, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, in Ohio,” Fran DeWine said in a press release. “With each purchase, $25 will go back to supporting the local program, helping to ensure the program remains available to all families in Ohio.”
The plates are available to purchase online at OPlates.com or in-person at a local deputy registrar license agency.
Gov. DeWine signed House Bill 315 which included the Parton Plates on Jan. 2. The original bill, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, received unanimous yes votes in both chambers before the license plate language was put into the larger HB 315.
Donovan Hunt is a fellow in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism’s Statehouse News Bureau.
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Jeremiah Smith has taken his first season at Ohio State by storm, putting the star freshman on pace to be one of the Buckeyes’ top wide receivers of all time — and potentially the No. 1 overall pick of the NFL draft by the time he is done in Columbus.
In order to ensure that, Smith’s family has taken out permanent total disability insurance (PTD) ahead of the College Football Playoff, according to a report from CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd.
Smith is not eligible to declare for the draft until after his junior year at Ohio State, which would make the 2027 NFL draft the earliest he could leave. His insurance lasts until Aug. 1, 2027 or when he signs an NFL contract — whichever comes first — per Dodd.
Per Dodd, Smith’s insurance policy protects him from a career-ending injury both on and off the field, and is with Leverage Disability and Life Insurance, a Southern California-based athlete insurance firm. He does not have loss of draft value (LOV) coverage as part of his policy, per Dodd.
“If this kid steps off the curb and gets hit by a car, he’s covered,” Greenspoon Marder law firm’s head of insurance recovery Richard Giller told CBS Sports.
Dodd, citing sources, reported it is rare for freshmen to receive permanent total disability insurance. In addition, Dodd reported Smith’s premiums cost is $7,500-$8,000 per million of coverage, citing additional sources.
A player receiving insurance has become more common for players over the years, especially in bowl games. A most recent example is Colorado taking out full insurance for its players, including Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 28.
Outside of a quiet CFP Cotton Bowl semifinal against Texas, against whom he finished with just one catch for 3 yards on three targets, Smith has impressed during the Buckeyes’ CFP championship run.
In the Buckeyes’ first two CFP games against Tennessee and Oregon, Smith combined for 290 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 13 catches. Smith enters Monday’s CFP championship vs. No. 7 Notre Dame with 1,227 receiving yards and 14 receiving touchdowns on 71 catches on the season.
Shortly after Ohio State’s win over Oregon, ESPN football analyst Dan Orlovsky said if Smith were eligible for April’s NFL draft, he would be the No. 1 pick and “it wouldn’t even be close.”
“He would easily be the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft,” Orlovsky said on Jan. 2. “You will have teams in two years, for that ’27 draft, tanking for him.”
No. 8 Ohio State will play No. 7 Notre Dame in the CFP championship on Jan. 20. The Buckeyes opened up as a -9.5 point early favorite on BetMGM.
The Big Ten Conference grind is never easy, as the Wisconsin women are finding out right now.
Coming off a tough loss to Maryland, the Badgers (10-7, 1-5) return to the court Thursday night vs. Ohio State. Tip is set for 8 p.m. Central time with the game streaming live on Peacock.
This makes the second straight league opponent that Wisconsin has hosted, as they played even with the Terps over the weekend for 30 minutes. A difficult fourth by the Badgers allowed Maryland to secure the win.
Serah Williams continued her strong season, scoring 24 points to lead the way. She averages 18.5 points and 11 rebounds per game.
Ohio State (16-0, 5-0) is coming off a nine-point win over Oregon and also holds league victories over Illinois and Michigan. They are paced by Cotie McMahon, who is one of five players averaging double figures.
The ESPN BPI gives Ohio State a 96 percent chance to win the game.
Here are details on how to watch Wisconsin vs. Ohio State on Thursday, Jan. 16:
Who: Wisconsin vs. Ohio State in Big Ten Conference women’s basketball action
When: 8 p.m CT | Thursday, January 16
Where: Kohl Center | Madison, Wisconsin
Live Stream: Stream Wisconsin vs. Ohio State live on fuboTV (Start your free trial)
TV Channel: Peacock
Our Prediction: Ohio State 88, Wisconsin 65
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